J. Harold Murray (born Harry Rulten, February , â€" December , ) was
an American baritone singer and actor. For more than a decade, during
the Roaring Twenties and the Depression Thirties, he contributed to
the development of musical theater by bridging vaudeville, operetta
and the modern American musical. The most popular American songs he
introduced on Broadway included "Autumn in New York" (, Thumbs Up!,
words and music by Vernon Duke); "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee"
and "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" (, Face the Music, Moss Hart and
Irving Berlin); "Rio Rita", "The Kinkajou" and "The Rangers Song" (,
Rio Rita, Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy); and "Mandalay" (, The
Whirl of New York, (Gustave Kerker, Hugh Morton and Edgar Smith).Born
on February , in South Berwick, Maine, "Hal" Murray served in the
Merchant Marine during World War I. After the war and a short
apprenticeship in vaudeville, he made his debut on the musical theatre
stage as J. Harold Murray in out-of-town productions of Arthur
Hammerstein's Always You and Frank Tinney's Sometime, both in .He
debuted on Broadway at the age of in J.J. Shubert's, The Passing Show
of . During the rest of the decade, he starred in musicals, and
separately co-starred with Eddie Cantor (Make It Snappy, ), Fred Allen
(Vogues of ) and Joe E. Brown (Captain Jinks, ). Other shows were: The
Midnight Rounders of , The Whirl of New York (), Springtime of Youth
(), Caroline (), China Rose () with Olga Steck, and Castles in the Air
() with Vivienne Segal. In February , he starred in Rio Rita, a Flo
Ziegfeld production. It was so successful after it opened the Ziegfeld
Theatre that the musical Show Boat, which had been scheduled to open
in April, was delayed until the end of the year.In Hollywood from â€"
in the pre-Code years, Murray appeared in the William Fox Studio
musicals: Cameo Kirby with Norma Terris; Happy Days; Married In
Hollywood with Norma Terris; Women Everywhere () with Fifi D'Orsay;
and Under Suspicion.
an American baritone singer and actor. For more than a decade, during
the Roaring Twenties and the Depression Thirties, he contributed to
the development of musical theater by bridging vaudeville, operetta
and the modern American musical. The most popular American songs he
introduced on Broadway included "Autumn in New York" (, Thumbs Up!,
words and music by Vernon Duke); "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee"
and "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" (, Face the Music, Moss Hart and
Irving Berlin); "Rio Rita", "The Kinkajou" and "The Rangers Song" (,
Rio Rita, Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy); and "Mandalay" (, The
Whirl of New York, (Gustave Kerker, Hugh Morton and Edgar Smith).Born
on February , in South Berwick, Maine, "Hal" Murray served in the
Merchant Marine during World War I. After the war and a short
apprenticeship in vaudeville, he made his debut on the musical theatre
stage as J. Harold Murray in out-of-town productions of Arthur
Hammerstein's Always You and Frank Tinney's Sometime, both in .He
debuted on Broadway at the age of in J.J. Shubert's, The Passing Show
of . During the rest of the decade, he starred in musicals, and
separately co-starred with Eddie Cantor (Make It Snappy, ), Fred Allen
(Vogues of ) and Joe E. Brown (Captain Jinks, ). Other shows were: The
Midnight Rounders of , The Whirl of New York (), Springtime of Youth
(), Caroline (), China Rose () with Olga Steck, and Castles in the Air
() with Vivienne Segal. In February , he starred in Rio Rita, a Flo
Ziegfeld production. It was so successful after it opened the Ziegfeld
Theatre that the musical Show Boat, which had been scheduled to open
in April, was delayed until the end of the year.In Hollywood from â€"
in the pre-Code years, Murray appeared in the William Fox Studio
musicals: Cameo Kirby with Norma Terris; Happy Days; Married In
Hollywood with Norma Terris; Women Everywhere () with Fifi D'Orsay;
and Under Suspicion.
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